


and it started with a hello (i could be your superhero)

by notcaycepollard



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Daisy Is The Only Marvel Superhero, Damsel in Distress Phil Coulson, F/M, background Mack/Elena
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 02:58:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8827819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notcaycepollard/pseuds/notcaycepollard
Summary: The first time Coulson sees Daisy fly, it’s an accident.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [becketted (zauberer_sirin)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zauberer_sirin/gifts), [nausicaa_of_phaeacia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nausicaa_of_phaeacia/gifts).



The first time Coulson sees Daisy fly, it’s an accident.

He’s running ground ops for a mission, the support for Daisy and Mack investigating a Watchdogs training facility, and it’s simple, straightforward, nothing they haven’t done a thousand times before, until very abruptly it’s not.

“Something’s going on in your exit route, guys,” he says over comms. Frowns at their screens, the thermal imaging and satellite feeds. “I think you need to get clear now while you’ve still got a way out.”

“Heading out now,” Mack says, and Coulson watches closely. “Daisy?”

“Right behind you,” she says, “wait, I- I got something, I’ll just be a minute.”

“You’re losing your window,” Coulson warns her, “Daisy, you don’t have _time_.”

“I’ve got hard evidence, Coulson,” she tells him, “we’ve got to take this chapter down, this is worth it, I promise.”

“It’s not worth it if your escape route disappears,” Coulson says more urgently, trying to tamp down his panic. “Mack, you clear?”

“I’m clear,” Mack says, “you’re right, they’re setting off charges, I only just made it out. Daisy’s not behind me, sir.”

“ _Daisy_ ,” Coulson repeats, “come in, where are you.”

“I’m fine,” she says, “exit’s blocked, I’m fine. Tell me the roof is clear.”

“That’s thirty floors up,” Coulson says, but he glances at the surveillance drone feed anyway, checks the thermals again. “Roof’s clear. _Thirty floors_ , Daisy.”

“I’m aware,” she gasps, breathless like she’s running. Coulson digs his nails into his palm and waits, helpless. It feels like a long, long time before he sees her appear, grainy and flickering in the drone camera feed, on the rooftop. He can’t figure it out - that high up, she can’t jump, and they’ve got no Quinjet within extraction distance - but he watches anyway as she runs to the middle of the roof, crouches down.

He doesn’t expect it at all when she soars up into the air in one long and graceful jump, arcs up and up and then down until he hears her land right outside.

 _Still surprising him_ , he thinks, and he’s never been so glad.

“Hey,” she says, opening the van door, “what’s up,” and Coulson leans back in his chair to look at her. Her hair’s not even tousled.

“That’s how you disappeared,” Coulson says in wonder, “I couldn’t figure out-”

“You were there?” Daisy asks, soft, and Coulson blinks.

“I was- of course I was. Mack and I. We were on it for _months_ , Daisy, you kept vanishing without a trace, we couldn’t work out how you were leaving so quickly.”

“Oh,” Daisy says, “ _oh…_ ” and reaches out like she’s about to brush his hand with her gauntleted fingertips before she hesitates, pulls her hand back. “Yeah, well. That’s how. Come on, let’s go pick up Mack.”

 _Show me again_ , he thinks, _show me how you fly_. Doesn’t know how to ask.

 

It turns out he doesn’t have to.

“So,” Daisy says a few evenings later, glancing at him and then at her hands, leaning in the door of the common area, “you wanna see how it works?”

“See how it- _yes_ , absolutely, yes,” Coulson tells her, and she grins, tosses him his jacket.

“Come for a drive, then,” she says, and he follows her out to the garage, slides into the passenger seat, looks at her hands on the wheel.

“It’s good to have you back,” he says impulsively, and she wrinkles her nose, fiddles with the radio. “That’s not- I mean, I know you’re still thinking about it. Staying. I don’t want you to feel pressured to stick around or anything, it’s just-”

“Phil,” she murmurs, gentle. “It’s okay. You can say it, it doesn’t make me feel pressured. It’s just… so much has changed, you know? Nothing’s the same.”

“I don’t even have an office anymore,” he says, and she laughs out loud.

“Right! Exactly. And I doubt Mace is gonna let me work in there just because I like it better than the briefing room.”

“You do?”

“Well,” Daisy says. Glances at him as she flicks on the turn indicator. “I _did_.”

“I never knew that,” Coulson says, thoughtful. “Why’d you like it?”

“Quieter,” Daisy says easily. “Nice music, good vibes. And the company wasn’t bad, either.” She looks at him again, grins a little cheeky and teasing, and Coulson blushes despite himself.

“Starting to think I never should have given it up,” he cracks, and Daisy just smiles like she’s amused.

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” she agrees, and pulls into an empty lot.

 

Seeing it up close, the way she gathers her strength and launches herself up into the air, it’s incredible. Coulson’s breathless just watching her, the contained power in every leap. He doesn’t even feel a tremor from where he’s standing a few feet away.

“God,” he says, “and you learned this while you were on your own?”

“First time was an accident,” Daisy tells him. Pulls at one gauntlet with her teeth like it’s annoying her. “I was in a tight spot. Had to get out in a hurry. Didn’t even know I could do it until I did it. Kind of broke every bone in my wrists, but…”

“ _What_ ,” Coulson says, appalled, and Daisy shrugs.

“You knew,” she tells him, “you were there when-” and Coulson frowns in concern.

“I thought that was one time,” he says, “you’re telling me it happened more than once?”

“That’s why Yoyo kept taking the bone repair meds for me,” Daisy says like it’s simple. “I thought you knew… Anyway, it wasn’t so bad after that first time. I healed. Put myself back together. The fractures only happened if I pushed myself too hard.”

“And you always do,” Coulson murmurs, “any time there’s someone to protect.”

“Yeah,” Daisy says, “well,” and her face closes off like that’s the end of the conversation. “Anyway,” she adds, determinedly bright, “these new gloves, they absorb the shock better. Channel the power. It helps.”

“You’re not hurting yourself?”

“No, Phil, I’m not hurting myself,” Daisy says. Touches his shoulder like it’ll reassure him. “You want to see it again?”

She goes even higher this time. Gliding up like she’s floating without wings, landing light on her feet, giddy and laughing with it. It’s beautiful. _She’s_ beautiful.

“You’re amazing,” Coulson tells her, too awe-struck to play it cool, and she laughs again, leans in against him for just a moment.

“Not bad, huh.”

“Not bad at all. Another power for the comic book version, for sure.”

“It… do you think you could keep this quiet?” Daisy asks. Tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, smooths down her suit. “I haven’t exactly let a lot of people know I can do it.”

“You want to keep your Superwoman jump ability a secret, I get it,” Coulson teases, and Daisy smiles, ducks her head.

“It’s just... “ she says. Bites her lip, pauses, looks up at Coulson. “I know I’m back. And I’m glad to be, I never wanted to- to go _rogue_. But having these powers, they’re mine to have. I don’t need scientists measuring what I can do and second-guessing how I do it. Telling me my own experiences aren’t reliable unless their measurements back it up.”

“Who-” Coulson starts, and Daisy shakes her head.

“Doesn’t matter. You get what I’m saying, though.”

“Yeah,” Coulson agrees. “Yeah, Daisy, I get what you’re saying. Your secret’s safe with me.”

 _All your secrets are safe with me_ , he thinks, and maybe it shows on his face, because Daisy smiles, very slow and very soft.

 

She doesn’t do it often. Keeps it off the radar. He doesn’t see it again, in person or in mission support, but she sticks around, sits with him in companionable silence as she preps her mission reports in the briefing room. He makes her coffee. She slides a pack of cookies across the table.

“You keep your record player?” she asks, not looking up from her file, and Coulson clears his throat, brushes crumbs away from the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah, I… it’s in my quarters. Haven’t used it in a while, though.”

“Oh,” she says. Gnaws her lip. “You should bring it out here, maybe. It’d be nice.”

“It would,” he agrees. The next night, he sets it up. Catches how she smiles.

They get assigned to missions together more often than not. A team, alongside Mack and Yoyo, and knowing Daisy’s there leading them all, it makes something unfold soft in Coulson’s chest. A knot that had been twisted tight, slowly unfurling. He’d missed her so desperately it’d felt like a part of him. The four of them in the Zephyr One, it feels like a team worth having again. A team that trusts, a team that _loves_ , god, it’s sappy but it’s true. Daisy gives him little sideways glances every time they catch Mack and Yoyo in a moment of softness, and he grins back, feels her lean in and press her shoulder against his in silent companionship. It means so much to him he’s left speechless with joy, having her home.

“You can’t just make grilled cheese every time you’re on dinner duty,” she teases him, and he smirks at her, stirs the soup on the stove.

“I didn’t,” he points out, “I made soup too,” and she snorts with laughter, steals one of the triangles of grilled cheese and shoves it in her mouth even as he’s frowning in mock outrage. “Dinner’s not _ready_ yet,” he tells her, and she shrugs, licks her fingers and chews very deliberately.

“I’m a superhero,” she says, “you gotta feed me properly, Coulson, I need to keep up my strength,” and he rolls his eyes, passes her another triangle of perfectly toasted bread.

“Are these idiots ever going to get it together,” Yoyo mutters to Mack in the background, her voice pitched low like she’s pretending they can’t hear her, and Mack coughs with laughter as Daisy chokes on her sandwich. Coulson just grins. Hands her a bottle of water. He doesn’t mind being agent in charge of superhero support, if he’s being honest. He’s usually on backup, ops support, a calm voice over the comms. Watching Daisy kick ass and save lives, take down xenophobic terrorists, there’s nothing he’d rather be doing. He’s never been more glad he stepped down as Director.

 

They’re on a mission together, this time. Kind of exciting, maybe; Coulson doesn’t often get to go in with Daisy, play human to her superhuman. Watching her work, it’s everything.

At least, it’s exciting until they get caught. _You’re losing your exit_ , he thinks, looking around for a Plan B that’s not there, and Daisy takes him by the arm, yanks him out into clear space in the center of the compound.

“Do you trust me?”

“What-”

“Do you _trust_ me, Phil,” Daisy demands, and Coulson blinks.

“Wha- of course I trust you, that's not even-”

“Then put your arms around me,” Daisy tells him. Exhales impatiently when he doesn't move. “Your _arms_ , Coulson, I can't hold onto you and get us out of here,” and Coulson twigs belatedly to her move, loops his arms up around her neck. “Come on, tighter than that, don’t be shy,” she sighs. Puts her hand on his waist and pulls him in until they’re pressed close from shoulder to hip. Her body is warm against his through the tac gear of her suit, and Coulson blushes, just a little. Daisy glances at him, eyes sparkling.

“Hey Phil,” she murmurs, “come with me if you want to live,” and then he can feel her power coiling like she’s about to spring. Pushing away from the ground, leaping up into the sky, the wind is cool on his face and they’re _flying_ , weightless and soaring. He clings tight to her, face pressed into the curve of her neck like he’s a damsel in distress and she’s come straight to his rescue. Can feel her muscles trembling. And then they’re landing on the roof of a high-rise, fifty floors in the air, Daisy gasping with the effort of lowering them both to the concrete below.

“Fuck,” she whispers, shaky. Puts one hand on the small of Coulson’s back, rests her forehead against his shoulder. “Didn’t know whether I could do that.” She’s breathing hard, shaking with adrenaline, and Coulson touches her hair without thinking, strokes his fingers through the strands, cradles the back of her neck. Feels her grab a little tighter to him like she doesn’t want to let go.

“You’re amazing,” he tells her, soft, “you’re _amazing_ ,” and she laughs, lifts her head, presses her cheek to his for one brief moment.

“Don’t tell me that,” she says, teasing, “I’ve still got to get us down to the ground,” and Coulson smiles, brushes a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

“It can wait a few minutes,” he says, “get your strength back,” and she takes a deep breath, chases after the kiss.

“Yeah,” she murmurs against his mouth, “yeah, I suppose it can.”

When she kisses him again, it feels like her power gathering, like she’s preparing for them to jump, and then she’s pushing up and up, kissing him mid-air until he’s breathless and dizzy with the height, with the wind, with _her_.

“Superhero landing,” he tells her, “you know I always wanted to be Lois Lane,” and she laughs bright and happy and beautifully, gloriously free.

 

**Author's Note:**

> ♥♥♥


End file.
